Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy

In Deuteronomy there is a shift in writing from a third
person historical narrative, “Moses did this, God said that, and the people did
this. Now it is a first person
historical narrative, I said to you, God said to you, and you did this. This is because Moses is speaking to the
people and recounting their joinery together in preparation for entering the
Promised Land. The Hebrew title is
“elleh haddebarim” which means “these are the words” and the book consist
mainly of speeches given to the people by Moses. The English title “Deuteronomy means
“repetition of the law”.

I found chapter 3:26 interesting “because of you God was
angry at me” Moses blames them for his sinful action of hitting the rock.

In Chapter 9 Moses points out a great truth to them, it is God
who is giving this land to you not because of your righteousness, but because
of His integrity and the judgment of the people who live there now. For us today it reminds us that our faith
comes from God. Before you could believe
and be saved God had to make it possible for you to believe.

1.
Israel given the land as a judgment of the other
people

A.
God judged the wickedness of the other nations
vs4.

B.
God made a promise to Israel

C.
God will later bring in other nations to judge
Israel

D.
We as a nation have been blessed not because of
our government being “Christian”, but because of the faith of the Christian
people who live in our nation.

E.
Cannot expect the same judgment of our nation’s
wickedness as Israel received, and the nations before her.

F.
Perhaps we will see this judgment come in the
next few weeks.

2.
God given faith

A.
We often think we believe and are saved, yet
before we believed God saved us.

A.
1 John 4:10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us
ⁿ and sent his Son as an atoning
sacrifice for ¹⁰ our sins. ^o

A.
Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we
were still sinners, Christ died for us. ^v

B.
Jess lived on the street since she ran away from
home at 15. Now at 22 her church is
having a 1 year celebration of jess standing up, making a choice to live a new
life with Jesus. She chose to quit the
drugs, and all the things she did to pay for them. In the back out of the spotlight was Sam. Sam found jess passed out next to a dumpster
behind is restaurant. He brought her
inside out of the cold. Of all the lost
street people he had seen he chose to save jess. For two years he would pick her up, over and
over again. Sam lifted this broken girl
and held her up until she grew strong enough to stand on her own. If it was not for Sam, jess could have never
made a choice to change her life. Sam
chose to change it for her.

C.
God chose to change Israel’s life not because of
their faith but so they could have faith.
He chose them not because they were the people of God but so they could
choose to be the people of God.

D.
Helen Keller was an author, public speaker, and
an amazing person. She is celebrated for
her strength and determination to overcome her disabilities. Yet the real hero in her story was Anne
Sullivan who fought with Helen and her parents lift her up and hold her up
until she could stand and fight for herself.

E.
God chose to save you, to lift you up until you
could say “I believe in Jesus”

3.
the challenge to us

A.
To lift people up not because of the choices
they have made but so they can make better choices in the future.

B.
To lift them up not because of who they are or
what they are but because of who and what they can become.

C.
We must not get discouraged because once again
they have fallen down, because one day when we help them to their wobbly feet
they will stand.

D.
On that day many will celebrate their choice to
live a new life, like Sam sitting in the back watching jess, remember that God
used you to lift them up.

E.
Today remember that you are saved not because
you choose to believe but because first God chose you.